Me: Tell us about your novel, Sky.
Roy: SKY is the story
about Tomas Moone, a dreamer, struggling to cope with life after the
death of his father, in a run down London neighbourhood. But Tomas has a secret
- he’s fallen in love with a girl he calls Sky. But she’s not real. He’s only
ever met her in his dreams. Then one night she fails to show. His dreams
take a darker turn, as another woman appears, promising Tomas power
and immortality. But there's a heavy price to pay, and Tomas fears for his
sanity as the boundary between his dreams and reality breaks down. When Tomas
is finally given the chance to meet Sky, he’s plunged into a dangerous world,
risking an eternity of torment and horror to save the girl of his dreams.
Me: There are quite a few
characters in your book. How hard was it to tie them all together in one plot?
Roy: There
are four main characters involved in three plot lines that come together in the
course of the story. Long before I began to write, I designed computer systems
and developed the skill of piecing complex code together and maintaining a
'map' in my head. A colleague referred to it as '3D' thinking - not sure if
that's entirely accurate, but I get what he meant. I did keep a timeline of
events when writing SKY, and had to keep in mind the time differences between
the locations in the story. But it's not really that complicated. Let's just
say, everyone who read the drafts, commented on the well-paced story and
how nicely it all dove-tailed together. So I like to think I got that bit right
:0)
Me: When and why did you start
writing?
Roy: I
wrote a number of short stories in my late teens and early twenties. But whilst
I never published them, or even kept them on file, many are still in my head.
In fact, the snow scene and tunnel sequence in SKY are adapted from two of
those short stories. But I'd always wanted to write a full length novel, as I
constantly have ideas rolling around in my head. Both my
children
have an interest in reading, and more recently writing, and we often amuse
ourselves on long car journeys, or whilst walking the dog, by coming up with
ideas for a book. I also find inspiration in the moment just before I fall
asleep. It's when you realise the thoughts running through your head, have
suddenly gone off in their own direction. Some ideas I get
are
very strange, but others have potential. If it comes back the following night,
I'll jot it down and see where I can take it.
So
after a few failed attempts and dead ends, I read Larry Brookes's, 'Story
Engineering', followed his advice and wrote 'SKY'.
Me: Author inspirations? Favorite
books?
Roy: It's
funny. It wasn't until I went back and read the draft, I saw the influence of
John Wyndham and Arthur C. Clarke. I read all of their books in my teens
and particularly loved Clarke's collection of short stories, 'Of Time and
Stars' - what a great title! I read sci-fi, fantasy, military history and
the odd crime drama. More recently I've discovered the space opera novels
of
Alastair Reynolds and love how he can portray the immensity of space, especially
in 'Pushing Ice'. My favourite books include Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'
(predictable, I know!), 'Birdsong' by Sebastian Faulkes (but I hated the TV
adaptation) and Stephen Pressfield's 'Gates of Fire'. However, although SKY is
a YA paranormal novel, I have to admit to not having read any from the genre
myself - although I have seen the movies :0)
Check out Sky as an ebook in the Kindle Store on Amazon!
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